Case Study: University of Connecticut Health Center achieves reliable, secure high-stakes exams with Questionmark

Creating Reliable High-stakes Exams at the University of Connecticut Health Center

The University of Connecticut Health Center faced the challenge of creating and delivering reliable, defensible high‑stakes exams and routine faculty evaluations for its medical and dental programs. To meet the needs of long, multi-format assessments (including multi‑hour comprehensive tests and image‑based histology questions), the Health Center adopted Questionmark—using Questionmark Secure for delivery and Questionmark Authoring Manager for item creation and management.

Questionmark’s platform was customized and extended (including embedding a Flash‑based virtual microscope) to deliver 10–15 high‑stakes exams each semester with up to 150 questions and multi‑hour timings, plus anonymous faculty surveys tied to student authentication. Using Questionmark’s Item Analysis reports, custom SQL queries and bespoke reports, faculty can identify and remove faulty items, grant credit when needed, and track survey completion—resulting in more defensible assessments, a streamlined workflow, and measurable improvements in test quality; the Health Center plans to migrate to Questionmark version 5.

University of Connecticut Health Center

Joshua Simon

Academic Computing Specialist